Requiem for Lorelei
by RealGhostbuster1984
Summary: The Ghostbusters travel to Germany to bust a fabled siren, but wind up getting more than they bargained for when the trail brings them into conflict with a centuries-old vendetta.
1. Chapter 1: Cruel Mistress

A/N: The Real Ghostbusters is owned by DiC and Sony Entertainment. Just to explain one of my motivations behind writing this story, well, I'm both a Ghostbusters fan and a student of German. So, I thought it appropriate that my first successful attempt at writing an RGB story would see how the boys handle one of Germany's most well-known supernatural legends. This story is the result :) Also, many thanks to the talented Rosey Collins, aka EGB Fan, for beta-reading for me. So, on with the story...

* * *

**Chapter 1: Cruel Mistress**

_The Rhine River, near Sankt Goarshausen, Germany, in March 1989..._

It was yet another typical evening for Ludwig Haussmann. Of course, that was no bad thing, as he enjoyed his work. He had worked the waterways for about twenty years now, but still he never ceased to appreciate the smell of the evening air, the comforting sound of the chug-chug-chug of the small freighter's engine, the homely breeze touching his face, and of course the sound of the river itself. It was these simple pleasures, he thought to himself, that so many people seemed to take for granted these days.

The river was getting twisty now, and Haussmann turned the tiller gently to manoeuvre the boat so as to keep it well clear of the hidden rocks beneath the water's surface. Even though the river was beautiful, she could be a cruel mistress. Satisfied that he was well clear, the mariner stole a glance up at the cliffs that stood tall over the river on either ride, curving round almost in a gesture of defiance to the boatmen that passed them every day.

There came a crackle over the ship's radio. "Base to Freighter 167, come in please..." The boatman picked up the radio and answered. "Receiving you."

"Alles in Ordnung?"

"Alles in Ordnung," Haussmann replied. "I'm passing the Rock now."

"Good. It looks like you are well on schedule," replied the dockmaster. "Report your position in half an hour."

Haussmann was about to reply in the affirmative when he heard it. A beautiful, enchanting song, bewitching him. He had never heard such a beautiful voice before. He could not yet make out the words. He didn't need to. All that mattered was the voice...It came from the top of the cliff. From the rock...the Rock of Lorelei.

"Hello...hello...come in?" came the words from the radio. Haussmann didn't hear them. As far as he was concerned, there was no voice except the one he was hearing. His eyes searched for the source of the enchanting sound...and found it. Her looks matched her voice. There she was, just like in the old stories, sitting there on the rock combing her luscious golden hair. Haussmann was transfixed by the sight and sound. He hadn't heard the tune before, but it didn't matter, the tender fluidity and richness of the voice carrying it filled him with a warmth that he had never known before.

He didn't realise that his hand was resting too hard on the throttle, increasing the freighter's speed beyond what was wise. He didn't realise that he was too close to the unforgiving rocks that held sway beneath the unresting waters...

_CRUNCH!_

Haussmann was thrown clean off his feet as the freighter was stopped in the most forceful way possible, striking his head on the edge of the control panel as he went down. All thoughts of the beautiful maiden that had enraptured him driven from his mind, he only saw stars dancing in front of his eyes. Dimly aware of the barge slanting to one side, the result of water rushing in from a rupture in the lower hull, he tried to haul himself to his feet, but his body would not cooperate. He just had time to hear his crew's frenzied cries of "Abandon ship!" before the blow to his skull sent him off into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Later that week..._

"Quiet, please, gentlemen, quiet!"

The mayor wiped his brow for the umpteenth time that evening. This particular town meeting had been a tough one. This time they had not been discussing the usual mundane topics, such as the town budget, the new arts centre, or what the state government had done this week to annoy the town's residents. No, this time the topic was of a far more outlandish, some might say fantastical, nature.

The seething cauldron of voices died down, but one voice still spoke out. "Four incidents in one week, Herr Burgermeister. There can be no more doubt. We want a decision!"

"And so you shall receive one, Anton." He mustered up the steeliest expression he could. "All the evidence points toward it. Two hundred years ago we could explain this away as superstition, or fantasy, or even witchcraft," he paused, "but now it is wearing thin. For too long we have ignored a deadly menace on the doorstep of our fair town, even passing it off as harmless folklore....but no more. Something must be done!" He slammed his fist down on the lectern in front of him.

"But what, Herr Burgermeister? Is there anyone in this town qualified to confront this demoness?"

The mayor took a deep breath. The strain was showing, and he knew the one hundred-odd people amassed in the town hall could see it. "_Vielleicht niemand_," he said simply. "We shall have to look further afield."

* * *

"_Wirklich_?" Josef Brunstein, an exchange student studying at Columbia University, listened intently to his father speaking over the phone. "I agree, Father, it is time...yet so many people refuse to accept the existence of the supernatural."

"I think the tide has turned, Josef." came his father's voice on the other end of the line. "Superstition can only explain so much."

"Indeed, Father. But what can we do about it?" He paused. "Wait. There are some people here in New York who may be able to help us...I shall contact them."

"Very good, Josef. Are you all ready to come home?"

"Yes. It will be very good to get home, despite this madness."

"And it will be good to see you again, Josef, and hear about your experiences in America so far."

"I have plenty to tell. See you tomorrow, Father."

"See you tomorrow, son." Josef hung up and looked around the reception area of the apartment in which he stayed. It would be best if he saw the Ghostbusters in person, so he could explain everything to them in detail, if need be. He knew where they were based. He just hoped this was within their remit.


	2. Chapter 2: Beautiful Enemy

**Chapter 2: Beautiful Enemy**

At Ghostbuster Central, Janine Melnitz was just finishing up the last remaining monthly bills. She was hoping to finish early this particular day, so she'd be able to get out and pay a quick visit to her sister Doris out in Brooklyn. Doris had been through a fairly harsh breakup recently, and Janine wanted to see how she was getting on. The Melnitzes were a close-knit family and they looked after each other. As, of course, were the Ghostbusters. Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston were on a bust at New York State College and they'd been gone about an hour now. It was fairly routine stuff, although Janine never knew when the foursome might do something stupid - or something so ingenious that it bordered on stupid. Where the Ghostbusters were concerned, genius and insanity were separated by a very thin line.

There was a noise and Janine looked up to see a tall, handsome blonde man approaching her. A tall, handsome blonde man who wasn't Egon Spengler.

The stranger approached the desk and regarded Janine plaintitively. "Good afternoon, miss," he greeted with a distinct German accent.

"Good afternoon. May I help you?"

"I hope you will forgive me intruding," said the blonde. "I have a matter to speak of which your employers may find...interesting."

"They're out at the moment. But if you wanna hold on, they should be back soon....and I stress the word 'should', so be warned."

"Yes, well, I have time, Miss....ahhh!"

Slimer, the Ghostbusters' green pet ghost, appeared seemingly out of thin air. He made a garbled noise of excitement at the sight of the visitor. "Ooh, ooh, ee-aw? Janine?"

"Slimer, not when we have visitors!" Janine scolded. Josef composed himself.

"A ghost...at Ghostbusters' headquarters. How very strange."

"Oh, this is just Slimer. He's harmless. Sort of." Janine turned to Slimer. "Go away, Slimer, or I'll tell Peter it was you who ate the last of his Belgian chocolates." _Hope Slimer doesn't know it was actually Ray who ate them, _thought Janine.

"Awww. Me just want make fwend." Slimer whirled away upstairs.

The sound of a rumbling car engine was heard at that point, and Josef turned around to see Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' converted hearse that served as their primary transportation, pull into the garage. The engine cut and the four Ghostbusters got out. Janine could tell that none of them had enjoyed their most recent bust.

"Man," said Winston as he kicked off his slime-covered boots. "I don't think any of us could hit the side of a barn door today."

"I don't know, Winston, Ray made a pretty good shot against that Tesla coil."

"I wasn't aiming for the Tesla coil, Peter," said Ray, who was holding a smoking ghost trap in one hand and his nose with the other.

"Winston's point exactly." shot back Peter.

"I think we were a little off-kilter today," said Egon, whose blond pompadour now resembled a cross between a mullet and a Tribble. "Business has been slow and we've gotten a little out of practice."

"Try telling that to Professor Psycho back there," replied Winston. "I don't think I've ever heard an elderly physics professor use the MF-word so many times."

"Really?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "I have."

"As have I." added Ray.

"Tell me 'bout it later, guys." Winston had been with the business almost as long as the other three, but he still had only heard but half of the wacky stories from the three scientists' time at Columbia University. "Right now, all I wanna do is...uh oh."

"What, Winston...oh..." Winston had seen the tall man hovering by Janine's desk. "Looks the Professor wasn't joking about the lawyers..."

Peter approached the man. "Hi. Dr. Peter Venkman at your service. I see you've met our lovely secretary Janine. You're lucky, tall and blonde is her type. You might be in with a chance." He winked and Egon looked uncomfortable for a moment.

Janine noticed Egon's reaction and smiled inwardly. "Very funny, Peter. This is Josef Brunstein. He's an exchange student from Germany."

"Germany? Seems like our fame is spreading."

Egon and Winston sighed in relief as Ray came forward. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Brunstein. I'm Dr. Ray Stantz, and here are my other two colleagues, Dr. Egon Spengler and Mr. Winston Zeddemore."

"Pleased to meet you all. I have some business which you may be interested in. It is something that has been plaguing my home region for quite some time. May we sit down somewhere?"

"I think we should sit down before we fall down. Sorry, Mr. Brunstein, we've just had a tough bust." Janine gave a wry smile. _Looks like today was an insanity day..._

"Please, call me Josef. If it's more convenient, I can come back another time – "

Ray cut him off. "No, we'll be happy. Peter's office will do nicely."

As they trooped into Peter's office, which was situated in an open area behind Janine's workplace, Egon handed the two smoking traps to the redheaded secretary. "Janine, would you take care of these?"

"Certainly, Egon," Janine gave him that smile, that smile that always aroused certain...feelings in Egon. Egon battened them down, as he always did, and joined the others.

"I hope you don't mind me coming in like this," said Josef. "I was in the neighborhood – a friend told me of your whereabouts – and I feared a simple phone call would not communicate the problem to my satisfaction."

Ray waved away the reservation. "No problem, Josef. We're here to help. So, what's the problem?"

Josef got straight to the point. "Have you heard about the legend of Lorelei?"

"Lorelei," echoed Egon. "The legendary siren of the Rhine river. A beautiful young maiden who sings and lures seamen and their boats to their destruction on the rocks."

"The name's familiar," said Winston.

Egon readjusted his glasses. "It should be, Winston. Lorelei is a fairly well-known legend."

"Maybe we should tell the whole story. It is important that we know." Josef suggested.

"Okay," said Egon. He cleared his throat. "Lorelei, as the story goes, was a ravishing young woman who lived in a small town on the river Rhine in Germany. She was desired and coveted by all the local men, but her heart belonged to only one man. A sailor."

"This isn't gonna be a happy story," said Winston.

Egon went on. "They were planning to get married, when the sailor was sent off to fight in a foreign land." He paused briefly. "He didn't come back."

"Poor girl," Peter mused. "No-one deserves a break like that."

Egon nodded. "But it happened. Her heart was broken, as you might expect. She went to ground on the cliffs overlooking the river, until one day, she could take no more, and she jumped."

"She killed herself? Shit," said Winston.

Josef nodded. "That is when things start to become strange."

"Strange is right. Tell them, Egon." directed Ray.

"Well, the stories vary, but what we do know is that shortly afterwards, she started appearing at the rock at the highest point of the cliffs overlooking the bend in the river. She sang, and her voice and appearance distracted the sailors who captained the boats carrying men and supplies downriver. The ships crashed into the rocks and, as they were made out of wood, were ripped apart. Most of the sailors never made it out of the water."

Ray chipped in. "There's a ton of explanations about how she became what she became. Some say that the Lord of the River – sort of the boss guy – took pity on her and transformed her into a mermaid. Or that she became one of the Rhinemaidens, female water spirits who inhabit the river."

"Tragic story...but I thought that was just a legend." said Winston.

"So to many of us. Mr. Zeddemore," answered Josef. "But there have been so many sightings of her over the years....and then the recent incidents." He paused, just long enough to take in the looks of curiosity on the Ghostbusters. "Barges have been crashing in that section of the river, underneath Lorelei rock. Many of the sailors report seeing her, hearing her voice. It seems so unbelievable...but how can they all be wrong?"

"They can't," said Egon matter of factly. "Many creatures believed to be legend have turned out to be real. Cthulhu was one. The Bogeyman is another. Though I doubt the Bogeyman made it as far as Germany."

"I suspect not, Dr. Spengler," Josef spoke thoughtfully. "We have our own legends similar to him, of course. But that is beside the point."

"So you want us to come out to Germany and bust this Lorelei chick, right?" Peter asked. "Female, German, good singer...the containment unit could do with that exotic charm."

"You will want to investigate first, of course? I have read about your work and some of the things you've done. I have always had a passing interest in the supernatural...listening to all the stories about the creatures that some say inhabit our river, it was hard for me not to." Josef looked at all of them. "So you will come to Germany?"

"Sure we will," said Ray. "All agreed?"

"No problems here," said Winston. "It'll be good to get away for a bit."

Egon nodded his approval. "We'll be happy, Josef,"

"I hate long flights, but hey, I'm gonna be outvoted anyway. Count me in." Peter smiled to indicate that his participation would be whole hearted.

"Thank you very much, Ghostbusters. The town has offered to pay for your expenses, and to ease any formalities. I hope it will be an experience."

Josef smiled for the first time since arriving. "Good. I think that will be all. I am leaving for home tomorrow. I can get you on the same flight if necessary."

Ray called over his shoulder towards Janine. "What's our schedule looking like, Janine?"

Janine flicked nimbly through the book and replied quickly. "You've got one minor job tomorrow, and the next day, nada."

"You've got good timing, Josef. We haven't had much to do recently." said Winston.

"I'm glad I can help you out. Unfortunately I have to leave now. If you leave me your number I'll call when the flight is arranged. Thank for your assistance." Peter produced a business card with the number and gave it to Josef. Then, they made their farewells and Josef left.

"You guys going away?" asked Janine.

"Yeah...we're off to Germany tomorrow. We'll bring you back a ghost as a souvenir." said Peter.

"You sure know the way to a girl's heart, don't you, Dr. Venkman," said Janine drolly.

"Be glad someone on this team does." Peter gave Egon a funny look, and was rewarded with the sight of Egon turning bright pink. That never got old.


	3. Chapter 3: Dinner with the Brunsteins

**Chapter 3: Dinner with the Brunsteins**

The Ghostbusters' flight took off from La Guardia at one o'clock sharp. The flight was uneventful – Ray and Josef chatted endlessly about Germany's wealth of folklore and ghost stories, Peter flicked through some magazines of a less-than-intellectual nature, Winston buried himself in the latest Arthur Ronan Boyle novel and Egon alternated between sleeping and perusing his copies of Tobin's Spirit Guide, Who's Who and What's That, and Pearson's Guide to the Weird and Wonderful, finding out as much as he could about the story of Lorelei. They arrived at Frankfurt seven hours later. All five were glad to have arrived, even though the flight had been smooth. After collecting their equipment – which for safety and security reasons had been sent on ahead by FedEx – they hailed a taxi and began the journey to St. Goarshausen.

"What did you find out, Egon?" Peter asked as they sped along the Autobahn at speeds which probably would have landed them in deep trouble back in the States.

"Well, neither of the books contain any real information on Lorelei, other than what we already know," answered the physicist, who turned around to address his colleagues. "All they really confirm is that she is indeed a ghost, and not a fairy or mermaid as many believe. We know that at least. I'd say she's almost certainly a Class 4."

"Doesn't sound like too much trouble," said Winston. Ray looked at him.

"Maybe, though she has killed before, even if indirectly. Egon, do you think it's possible that she doesn't know what she's doing? If she's the ghost of a living person, then it's possible. Remember Uncle Horace?"

"Yeah. You don't forget characters like him in a hurry," interjected Peter then. "So you reckon she might be on some sort of ghostly autopilot?"

"It's possible," Egon readjusted his glasses and concentrated again on fine-tuning the PKE meter he was working on. The taxi driver stole a sideways glance at what he was doing. It was safe to say that he had no idea who the Ghostbusters were. "But..." he said as he tweaked a screw, "But we won't know until we investigate properly."

"Yeah." Ray looked thoughtful, as he glanced out at the German countryside, speeding past. "It would be a shame if we had to trap her in that case. Even if she had caused the deaths of those sailors."

"Don't get too sentimental, Ray," warned Winston then. "She's still a ghost."

They soon reached the small Rhineland town that would be the scene for their latest encounter with the supernatural. It was an attractive town, typically Teutonic, composed of winding streets threading between half-timbered houses. They passed several inns, shops and small restaurants, some with stylised signs hung out front with Gothic lettering, adding to the ambiance. Ray smiled as he admired the architecture. Winston, himself an admirer of architecture, seemed to like the place already. "The Old World at its finest," he spoke. "Egon, didn't you say your ancestors came from this region?"

"Not this precise locality, Winston. I'm glad you asked, though." He put the finishing touches on the PKE meter. Getting nostalgic over ancestral connections obviously wasn't Egon's thing, thought Winston.

Soon, they pulled up alongside an inn at the end of the main street, directly adjacent to the river. The stylised letters on the inn's facade spelt its name, the Gasthof zum Rheinblumchen. They got out of the taxi and unloaded, donning their proton packs, although they obviously wouldn't be needed them just yet. The door of the inn opened then and out stepped an older, white-haired man. Upon seeing the Ghostbusters and Josef, his dignified features broke into a smile. The four strangers guessed immediately that this was Josef's father.

"Josef, how good to see you again. And these must be the Ghostbusters! Einen schoenen Nachmittag."

Ray made the running. "We're pleased to be here, Mr. Brunstein. It's great of you to want to take us in."

"No problem. As far as I am concerned, there are no strangers, but merely friends you haven't met yet." Heinz smiled. That was the cue for introductions. Once all four Ghostbusters had introduced themselves, they headed on in. "You're just in time for lunch," said Anton. They trooped in and looked around. It was as cosy inside as one would have guessed from looking at the outside. Much of the building had been constructed from wood, much of which Winston guessed might have originally been part of a wooden barge, and the effect was extremely homely. Anton led them directly into a private room near the back. He then motioned to an attractive young blonde woman. "_Katrin, schicken Sie ihre Ausruesting hinueber," _The young woman took their proton packs – though Egon kept his PKE meter, as he always did – and took them upstairs to their rooms, although not before receiving a very appreciative glance from Peter. "May I introduce you to my wife, Elsa." The Ghostbusters greeted the woman standing next to Josef, who regarded them with polite scrutiny.

"It is not often we have such...unusual visitors," she said. "It is meant in the nicest possible way, of course."

Ray shrugged it off. "No problem, Elsa. We're used to those sort of reactions. Especially when we travel overseas, which isn't often."

They sat down, Ray, Egon and Elsa on one side, Peter, Winston and Josef on the other and Anton at the table's head. "So how was your journey?"

"Pretty good. Uneventful, though. We're definitely glad to be here," Ray answered. Peter rolled his eyes at Ray's use of the word 'uneventful' and the implied gripe, as if Ray would have preferred a Force 12 thunderstorm or a full-on ghost attack at 35,000 feet. _Actually, knowing Stantz, he probably would have, _thought the psychologist.

"Good. We'll have dinner ready for you quickly."

"Thank you, Mr. Brunstein." Egon was the only one who hadn't put himself through the misery of tackling the airline meal, instead putting it in a bag to add to his collection of sickening and gross organisms.

Elsa looked at them questioningly. "This Ghostbusting sounds like exciting work. How long have you been doing it?"

"For about six years now," Ray answered. "We've come across a lot of different ghosts. But we've never been asked to bust a siren before."

"Well, you have now," replied Anton. "Did you find it hard to believe, that Lorelei could actually be real?"

"It's our job to believe. And we've got the expertise, and the experience." said Winston.

"We are glad to hear it." replied Elsa.

Egon gave a slight smile. "Your ghost is in safe hands, Mr and Mrs. Brunstein. Uh, so to speak." He paused. "I think it would be most prudent to establish everything that has happened recently. We should try and find if there any patterns or anything that can tell us more."

"That's right. Lorelei isn't just any old fixed repeater. There seems to be some purpose to what she's doing."

"Maybe she just really hates sailors?" quipped Peter.

Anton cocked an eyebrow. "Unlikely, Dr. Venkman. If the stories are to be believed, she was very much in love with one of the local sailors."

"Love's a funny thing, sometimes," replied Peter. "But Egon's right. We've gotta know everything. Within reason of course. No mushy stuff."

"We should start with the most recent incident." Egon asserted.

"Well," said Anton, "first, you should know there has been a large increase in traffic on the river recently. There is a new hydroelectric power station being built further down the river, and so the barges are bringing building materials and labour. The state government is putting pressure on the companies to get the power station completed on time, and so the river has been very busy."

"That's important," said Ray. "So Lorelei's presence is slowing things up? That can't be good for the local economy."

"Yes, that is true. Ever since the project started, her appearances have been becoming more and more frequent. There is something very dark at work here, gentlemen. It makes too much sense."

Egon readjusted his glasses. "Well, if the frequency of her appearances is directly proportional of the amount of river traffic, then there is clearly an element of causality at work here."

Peter translated. "What he means is, Lorelei's got it in for the ships bigtime."

Elsa shoo her head. "But if her lover was a sailor, why would she bear anger towards the men of the river?"

Winston ventured an answer. "Maybe she felt that her lover had somehow abandoned her by dying. Just a thought,"

"Yeah. The human mind works in weird ways, sometimes. Especially with women." Peter then looked up to see Katrin hovering over him, laying condiments on the table, shooting him a quick glare. "Uh, no offence, honey. Just a joke." Katrin shot him a 'watch your mouth in future' glance and went away.

Ray rolled his eyes. _Smooth, Peter. _Turning his attention back to the others, he said, "Are there any records detailing her appearances? Eyewitness accounts by passers-by, tourists, anything like that?"

"Oh yes, of course. Many people do not take sightings seriously, however, and even many of the witnesses do not believe what they see with their own eyes. It is sad. Many accuse the sailors who have seen her of wild superstition, choosing to explain away their incompetence as folklore. However, my grandfather and father and I have kept a private record of Lorelei sightings, and I have studied them. It would appear that the last such peak of activity occurred before and during the War. Of course, speaking of such things during those dark years was ill-advised, in case you were labelled as a subversive or an undesirable."

Ray thought for a moment. "True...but the War would have been a busy time for the waterways."

"So she'll only perform if she's got a good chance of wrecking a few barges?" asked Winston. "Figures. I don't like this lady's routine."

"Did you talk to all the crew on the barges that got waxed?" asked Peter. "You sure they weren't smoking something they shouldn't been or something?"

"Not at all, Dr. Venkman," answered Anton, and he looked a little put out by Peter's insinuation. "I have known both Ludwig and Heinrich for years – everyone knows each other in this town – and I trust their judgement entirely."

"No offence, Anton," said Peter by way of apology.

"None taken, Dr. Venkman. Of course, they were lucky. The sailors of two centuries ago mostly died, those old wooden boats would simply shatter on contact with the rocks. Steel barges don't."

"Well, that's something," said Ray.

"In any event, the pattern of appearances would seem to confirm that she is indeed a ghost, and not a fairy or mermaid. The PKE meter should have no problem determining which class we're dealing with – if she isn't a former human."

"This is very interesting," said Josef. "It is good to know that we'll be, er, getting to the bottom of this trouble soon."

Peter smiled. "You can count on us. And we'll try not to blow too much stuff up in the process."

Anton and Josef both raised an eyebrow at that but Ray quickly stepped in, "It's OK. This should be a very simple trap and contain job." He paused. "Though I don't deny that things have gotten a little hairy on previous busts. Sometimes we find ourselves having to experiment a little bit."

"True. Even though we've been in the business for a good few years now, we're still learning all the time."

"I have complete confidence in you. " Anton gave a smile. "Look now...lunch is ready."

And so it was. Elsa, accompanied by two waiters, doled out the plates of chicken soup, much to Ray's delight, as he loved the stuff. There followed more conversation, which quickly turned to more casual topics. Peter in particular took great delight in regaling the Brunsteins with stories of paranormal derring-do, with particular emphasis on his own contributions to said adventures. When they were finished, they thanked their hosts and headed upstairs to their room, led by Katrin.

Their room was the epitome of cosy. The timber motif dominated the room. Ray thought that the wooden beams may originally have been part of a ship at one time – they often were. The window, which had the familiar criss-cross pattern, looked out over the river. They couldn't see Lorelei Rock from this point, but they wouldn't need to see it just yet anyway. Their luggage, containing their jumpsuits and other things were there, as well as their proton packs and ghost traps.

"Well, you can't complain about the hospitality here," drawled Peter. "Definitely not."

Winston cast a leery smile his way. "I know. I saw the way you were looking at that waitress. And there was me thinkin' you went for brunettes more than blondes."

"Hey. I'm Peter Venkman. I'm adaptable." replied the psychologist. "But redheads, on the other hand, I leave to others." He gave Egon a knowing glance.

"Yes, well, ahem, ahem," Egon spluttered, "Gentlemen, I suggest we turn our attention towards getting some sleep. We don't want be busting ghosts while we're jetlagged."

"We sure don't," agreed Ray. "Though Lorelei shouldn't be too difficult to trap, judging by what we know." He placed a noticeable amount of emphasis on the word 'trap', which caught the attention of the others.

"Trap or...?" repeated Winston. "What's on your mind, m'man?" he asked Ray.

"I've got a feeling," said Ray. "A feeling that there's something else we could do. Y'know, apart from busting her."

Egon adjusted his glasses and fixed Ray with an understanding gaze. "While I don't deny you've got a point, Ray, we were hired to put a stop to this threat. And besides, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? We haven't even met her yet."

"Yeah, Ray." said Peter. "Best you put that sleepy head of yours down on that pillow and head off to Dopey Dog world or wherever. Then we'll talk about it in the morning. You got that, Tex?"

"Right," said Ray. "Guess I am getting ahead of myself."

"No problem." Peter flopped down on his bed. "Ah, it feels so good to be able to crash here without any Slimer to get in my hair. They sure live the good life here."

"Just make sure the Gribbolds don't get you." Ray chuckled.

"The what, Ray?"

"Gribbolds. Native ghosts. They grab people in the middle of the night, take them off to their world and make them dance for them. Strange creatures."

"Not funny, Ray." Peter rolled his eyes, but Ray caught a flicker of fear in his eyes. Ray smiled. _Bingo._

Egon and Winston said good night and headed off to their room, across the hall. Soon the four had got ready for bed and were snoring away.


	4. Chapter 4: Close Up

**Chapter 4: Close Up**

The next morning, Peter Venkman slid out of bed, showing all the energy of a zombie with an asthma problem. He threw on his clothes, and traipsed down the stairs to the breakfast room, where his three teammates were already in the middle of their morning meal.

"I'm pleased to see you have deigned to join us, Peter," said Egon with that twinkle in his eye that Peter had seen all too often.

Peter pointed at Ray. "There's the bad guy," Peter accused. "He woke me while I was in the middle of a very satisfying dream involving a couple of local maidens."

"I guessed as much even before you threw that empty glass of water at me, Peter," Ray smiled. "You were speaking German in your sleep."

"Weird, I don't speak German," protested Peter.

Ray looked at Winston. Winston pointed his finger at his head and did a looping motion with it.

"Well, now that we're all here, let me just go over the basic plan. Going by what Anton has told me from his and his father's diaries, peak time for Lorelei's appearances seems to be around four o'clock. Therefore, we should aim to be in position by half-past three. The town has arranged for the state forestry commission to clear the area of sightseers, so we'll be undisturbed."

"Great, Egon. I'll go over the equipment and check that it's all in order. I heard the FedEx flight over here was pretty bumpy."

"That's good, Ray." said Egon.

"Yeah, don't want anything to go wrong this far from home," agreed Winston.

Peter held up a finger. "Will there be any time for fun on this trip, Egon?"

"All in due time, Peter. Business before pleasure."

Peter turned to Ray and Winston. "And he wonders why he's still single..."

* * *

Three o'clock came and it was time to set out along the path that would lead them through the undergrowth to the Rock of Lorelei. Egon led the way, his PKE meter held out in front of him. Then followed Peter, Winston and Ray, in that order. The path they were following was a dirt one, and winded between huge, formless bushes. They could distantly hear the river seething past the rocks from a point in front of them. There were a few trees as well standing as if to attention beside the path, and the effect reminded them somewhat of walking through the jungle. There was a fair amount of incline as well. Soon, the PKE meter started to react slightly.

"We're getting close," said Egon.

"About time," replied Peter.

About twenty meters ahead, the vegetation gave way to daylight. As it was March, the light was already starting to dim a little. Right in front of them was Lorelei Rock, jutting out over the cliff. The lights on the meter started to flash. The other three took it as their signal to draw their particle throwers. Ray leaned over to get a look at the PKE meter.

"OK, Egon, what are you getting?"

"Definite Class 3 overlays. Nothing out of the ordinary so far."

"There's a whole village who'd care to disagree with you on the 'nothing out of the ordinary' bit, Spengs," cracked Peter. "What's the course of action?"

"She could appear any minute," said Ray. "We've gotta be ready."

"Well, we've got protons on tap, Tex. You think we should hide?"

"Yep. Best she doesn't see us straightaway." Winston, practical as ever. "There's plenty of undergrowth here. That's our hiding place."

"And get myself dirty?" complained Peter. "The things I do for my profession..."

They staked out positions in the bushes, crouching low amid the bracken so they were mostly hidden from the rock, whilst having a decent view of Lorelei when she materialised. Now it was just a question of waiting.

_This is gonna be a snap job_, thought Peter.

_I've a feeling this isn't gonna be a snap job, _thought Winston at the same time.

As it turned out, they didn't have long to wait. The first glimpse they got of the siren was a shower of silvery-white sparks, not dissimilar to fairy dust, materialising in the air right over the rock. Egon turned down the volume on the PKE meter as it started to beep furiously. The sparks thinned out and at the same time, a human shape started to phase into being. The shape of a woman, a very beautiful woman. She was naked, and she had golden hair of an exceptionally rich and bright shade, which cascaded down over the shoulders and over her body like some sort of golden waterfall. If any of the Ghostbusters had ever felt a certain antipathy towards any of the wrecked sailors for being drawn in by the siren, then those feelings would certainly abate now. Her face was the last part of her to come into focus. It bore no hint of malice or contempt; instead, it held sadness, enhanced by a very final solemnity.

Ray was drawn out of his reverie by Egon's bass. "Wait a minute. This is odd."

"What's odd?"

"These sub-readings are abnormal." Egon tweaked his glasses and turned a knob on the device.

"That's Peter's signal, Egon."

The four moved out and cautiously approached the enchanting spirit in front of them. If Lorelei was the not the most powerful ghost they had encountered, then she was certainly the most striking. Consistent with the folklore, she was sitting cross-legged, combing her hair. The only man not taken in by the sight was Egon, who was still buried in his PKE readings. He hadn't even drawn his thrower yet.

"Egon...put that thing away," shot Peter under his breath.

Egon tucked it into his belt without switching it off and hefted his thrower.

"Heat 'em up!" instructed Peter. A dull electronic _clunk _followed by a rising hum went up as the Ghostbusters powered up their weapons, and that was what brought Lorelei's attention onto them.

She turned her head and fixed the four mortal strangers with a distant gaze. Her aquiline features and small blue eyes only accentuated her beauty. Her expression was one of vague melancholy, until she fixed her sight on Ray. Ray looked right back at her and then the maiden's expression changed. First she looked confused for a brief second, and then something which looked like recognition flashed in her eyes...followed by a look of deep sadness. Ray didn't think he'd ever seen such sadness in the eyes of a another human being, or a ghost of one. It touched Ray deep inside. What was going on here?

"Ready..." came Peter's voice.

Ray looked into the eyes of Lorelei. Her eyes went wide, and then she shook her head, as if trying to remember something....

"...aim..."

Lorelei opened her lips slightly. To Ray it looked like she was going to say something...

...FIR - "

"No...wait!" Ray yelled. That got the other guys attention sure enough.

"What is it, Ray?" said Egon.

"We can't blast her. I think she really needs our help. Look...she's terrified!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Look, Ray, this is no time to get sentimental. She's probably bluffing."

"Ray may be right. The PKE readings are abnormal. I'm getting noticeable Class 7 overlays."

"Class 7 overlays," said Winston, and his voice was now foreboding. "Oh...you mean..."

Egon nodded at Winston.

Ray moved forward. He was too certain of his feeling to get into an argument with Peter, or for that matter Egon or Winston. He approached the beautiful spectre. The other three maintained a ready-to-fire stance, but it would be difficult for them to hit her without hitting Ray. His thrower was safely stowed. He maintained the friendliest and most understanding expression he could muster, which for Ray was very.

"Lorelei," he addressed the ghost maiden. Her eyes were burning with something – a mixture of sadness and...fear? "We don't want to capture you. We think you need our help." Ray didn't know if she could understand him. He hoped his body language would somehow give it away.

Lorelei opened her lips. "_Hilf...mir..." _Her voice was smooth, possessing a slight echo, and laced with desperation. It also sounded like she was struggling to talk.

The other three Ghostbusters now approached, their throwers stowed. Egon, who had a decent, though not fluent command of German, understood. "Help me, she says."

"_Karl...muss ihn finden.."_

"She has to find someone called Karl," said Egon.

"Lorelei, can you tell us more," implored Ray. "We can help you."

Lorelei looked panicked. "_Nein..." _she spoke, but was unable to utter another word as then she started fading out.

"She's fading!" yelled Winston. Barely two seconds later she was gone, replaced for a moment by a cluster of silver-white sparks, which a second later also faded out.

"Blast." Ray put a hand to his head. "Just when we were getting through to her."

Egon's eyes narrowed. "Or, when she was getting through to us. She was trying to tell us something."

"Yeah. And you can bet the house that it's bad news." Peter said,

"Well, we got one name. Some guy called Karl." Winston thought out loud.

"Not much to go on." said Ray, furrowing his forehead in thought.

"OK, Egon, about those PKE readings. You said they were abnormal."

Egon nodded. "Her readings were combined with some odd overlays. Class 7 overlays."

"Class 7 overlays? But that would normally signify...demonic possession." Ray looked confused.

"I should have guessed earlier. She would have needed some sort of additional power boost to produce such a strong attraction for the boat captains, even taking into account her pre-existing, uh, attributes. However, the readings in question are different from what would I would normally expect...they're not as strong, for one thing."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "Additional power boost? From who? You suggesting there's someone pulling the strings, Egon?"

"Not at this moment, Peter, but it's a possibility. It could also be that Lorelei is masking her power, but, considering that she tried to communicate with us, that's implausible." He whipped out his meter again and started taking readings, again.

"I don't like this, guys." said Winston. "I vote we check out this whole stretch of the river."

"Do we have to?" drawled Peter in protest.

"Yeah, Peter. Winston's right." Ray now had his hands on his hips. "You heard what Josef said. There's all sorts of weird stuff that's supposed to be associated with the river. Could be we've only just touched the tip of the iceberg?"

"You mean more naked ghost ladies? Y'know, a couple of days I would have jumped at the chance, but now, I'm not sure. Another certainty in my life has been cruelly ripped up."

"No, Peter. I mean dangerous stuff. Demons and what-have-you."

That didn't please Peter at all.

"Anyone know when the next flight home is?"


	5. Chapter 5: Under Stone, Over Water

**Chapter 5: Under Stone, Over Water**

"Mein Gott," said Anton quietly. "You mean there is more to this than the eye meets?"

"It appears so, Mr. Brunstein," replied Egon curtly. The Ghostbusters had just finished telling him about what had happened up on the Rock. "My readings hint at something more dangerous. We need more information about this part of the river before we can proceed. Has anything else of a paranormal nature taken place recently?"

Anton removed his glasses and walked slowly to the window, which, with the Gasthof being located on the corner of the street, looked out towards the river. He looked out towards the river for a few seconds, and then turned his attention back to the foursome. "Alas, I have only conjecture, Ghostbusters, and no facts. People have spoken of underground passages, of ghosts under the water, of all sorts of things, but Lorelei is the only real evidence of this mythology. However, the town is with you, gentlemen, remember. Anything we can do to help, we shall."

Ray snapped his fingers. "We'll need to rent a couple of boats. That'll be the best way to take readings I think. Then if we split into two teams, we should cover the whole area fairly quickly."

"Then we'll do it," said Winston.

"We will cover the charge. Just be as quick as you can. Important people are getting angry, wondering what is happening to their boats..."

"No problem." said Peter. "Just keep the tourists off our tail and we'll take care of it. We're not heroes back in New York for nothing."

"Well then, good luck, gentlemen. Hopefully, you will not need it."

* * *

Following Ray's suggestion, the Ghostbusters split into two teams, one comprising Egon and Peter and the other comprising Ray and Winston. They had begun the slow process of taking readings in every corner of the cliffs, as well as the blue waters underneath. It was surprisingly hard work, as they had to keep their boats steady in the rapids in order to get the best readings. They had selected the most likely stretch of river to investigate, based on Egon's readings on the Rock, and each team had worked in opposite directions, Egon and Peter starting at one end and working up one side of the river, Ray and Winston doing the opposite. They radioed their readings back and forth to each other and Egon did the necessary crosschecks, to see if there were any patterns. This took a long time, and it was getting on for ten o'clock when finally Egon announced that their stint as river policemen was at an end.

"Finally," Peter had said. "Late nights are bad for my love life."

"When was the last time you actually had a date, Peter? And no, that time when your car broke down while driving Janine's sister to her school reunion doesn't count."

"That's unfair. I've just had a run of bad luck recently, that's all."

"Excuses, Peter. Everyone knows you make your own luck." Egon's eyes had that twinkle in them again. "Look, here come Ray and Winston now."

Ray swung the small motorboat over to boarding position. He and Winston greeted the other two with some relief. "Man, I thought we'd be all here all night," said Winston. "I've forgotten what dry land feels like."

"What's the score, guys?" asked Ray as he boarded the other boat, Winston straight after...

"The readings appear to be centered right here," said Egon, and there was a certain tone to his voice which the others recognised as Egon's understated excitement. He pointed at an exact point at the cliff. "We may have found one of the underground passages Anton mentioned."

"But there's only one way we'll find out, guys," said Peter. He drew his thrower and switched it on, and the others followed suit. "Ready...fire!"

On Peter's command, four powerful proton streams lashed out and struck the cliff, exactly where Egon had pointed. Barely three seconds later, the rock gave way and crumbled into pieces. When the dust cleared, there was a gaping hole, and the Ghostbusters could see right into the cliff.

"Bingo!" exclaimed Ray. It looked like they had found an underground passage. "Wait until Anton and Josef see this. Josef especially."

Peter stowed his thrower and gave a satisfied smile. "OK, kids, we're in business. Let's head on in and see who's home." Peter clambered onto the rocks and hauled himself up into the jagged hole. Soon Ray, Egon and Winston had done likewise. Egon got out his trusty PKE meter and scanned it.

"You're right, Ray. The readings clearly show a definite ecto-source up ahead, although it isn't yet properly defined. Only once we're in will we know."

"Let's get moving then," urged Winston. They began to follow the passage. It was spacious enough, wide enough for two men to walk side by side, and tall enough to admit even the tallest humans.

There was little light in the passage, with the only real illumination coming from Egon's PKE meter. Peter removed his flashlight from his belt and switched it on. There was little to see except grayish-pink rocky walls and the gravel-strewn ground, but now they could at least see ahead of them.

"Right under the cliff," mused Egon. "I have to say, gentlemen, whatever we find here will be quite significant. Where there are catacombs, there's – "

"Danger. I know, Egon." Peter interrupted. "We've all been there a million times. Which is one million times more than necessary. So what sayeth the doom-o-meter, O Intelligent One?"

"It sayeth, Peter, that there are multiple ectoplasmic entities up ahead. The readings are still on the faint side, even though I've just boosted the power."

Winston nodded. "Water spirits, Egon? Those things can be nasty."

"I'm not sure, Winston. We're heading into the unknown here."

Peter started humming the theme tune from The Twilight Zone, but a sharp glare from Winston made him cease. Soon the passage took a downhill course. The sense of anticipation increased. Neither of them could hear any noise emanating from the darkness, but all were expecting some. After a minute or so, the passage curved sharply to the right. A little way further, it curved sharply to the right again, heading back in the direction of the river, though now some way under it.

"Y'know, guys, I wasn't expecting this. Egon, are you sure we're going the right way?" Winston enquired.

"Yes, Winston, I am. And there's definitely something down here. I'm picking up a vast mass of spectral energy."

"What type of spectral energy? The sooner we know what we're dealing with, the better."

"Bad spectral energy. Consistent with nether entities. There also seems to be Class 3 presences. And something else I can't decipher."

"This is great, Egon," said Ray then. "Maybe we've found some sort of long lost city or something?"

"First person to mention 'Atlantis' loses their Twinkie allowance," Peter quipped.

Egon looked at Peter. "_I_ wasn't going to mention Atlantis, Peter. Were you, Ray?"

"No," Ray said.

"That means no Twinkies for you, Peter. And besides, I don't think Atlantis would be in the middle of Germany."

"Damn you, Spengler."

"Egon, d'you think we'll be able to handle this?" asked Ray.

"The nether entities and Class 3s, yes," said Egon. "It depends what else we find when we get down there."

Quiet reigned again as the passage continued for a while until finally, light appeared at the end of it. The passage started to widen. Ray and Winston drew their throwers as a precaution. Soon, the whole scene changed. The tunnel opened up completely to reveal a gigantic cavern. Under their feet was what felt like sand, and about twenty feet from them lapped the lazy waters of a large lake. Above and around the lake, walls of purplish rock curved outwards and then inwards to form the high roof from where stalactites dangled precariously. The curvature of the walls gave the cavern a somewhat cylindrical shape. At the water's edge was a boat, large enough to admit the Ghostbusters plus a few others.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ray. "Take a look at this!"

"Impressive," said Peter, "but what gives? Where are we?"

"I don't know, Peter," replied Ray. "Legends speak of caverns and fortresses and underwater castles...pretty vague stuff. I think we've stumbled across one of them. Looks like exploration's the name of the game now."

"Guys, I think maybe we ought to rethink this," said Winston. "We don't know what we're dealing with here. Maybe we should go back to the surface and call for more equipment. Janine'll have it sent over pronto."

Egon tweaked his glasses again. "Normally I'd agree, Winston, but the atomic destabiliser is currently undergoing repairs, as you may remember. I think we can deal with this."

"Well, first thing we gotta do is get over this lake. And there's a boat, nice and ready for us." Peter looked towards it.

"It could be a trap," said Ray. "But we've gotta take a chance if we wanna get to the bottom of this mystery."

"So it's a mystery, now? I hate mysteries. Well, let's get moving."

The Ghostbusters entered the boat. It was a wooden boat, similar in shape to a Viking longboat. It seemed sturdy enough. All of a sudden there was a crackle of energy and the oars started moving by themselves. "Hey...!" exclaimed Ray but there was nothing he or the others could do. They were on their way across the dark blue waters. It was cold in the large cavern, and the air had a strangely damp feel to it. Ray looked across the water and saw a patch of vegetation off to their left. There was long grass stretching out of the water, grass of a peculiar pink colour. The grass surrounded a group of weird plants, one of which resembled a bizarre type of Venus flytrap. As the boat picked up speed, a thin but very ominous fog rose from the water to meet them. At the same time, all four men could suddenly hear a succession of windy, ghostly noises. It wasn't exactly describable, they resembled human voices slightly, but they didn't sound human. All the same, Peter was reminded of something he had heard Josef say to Ray on the plane. _Sometimes, on a calm night, you can hear the wails and moans of the dead sailors, as if their deaths are being replayed..._

"Ray, can you remember which horror movie this scene's out of?" asked the psychologist.

"No horror movie I've seen."

Winston looked over his shoulder. "Or in other words, we're in our _own _horror movie."

Egon nodded. "Except hopefully the monster won't get us in the end. I think we should..."

Ray cut in. "Hold it, Egon. What's that noise?"

As the quartet pricked up their ears, they heard it. A set of screeching sounds cutting through the mist. Egon looked at the meter and his eyes went wide. "Something's coming!"

"We hear 'em, Egon!" Winston drew his thrower a split second before a flying squadron of ghosts came straight at them. Six Class 3 spectres, heading for their position!

"Bandits at ten o'clock," yelled Peter. "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes." The ghosts drew closer and they became clearer – they all looked predictably grotesque, with differing colours, shapes and sizes. "Or reds, or blues, or...OK, let 'em have it!"

The Ghostbusters let rip. The streams flew into the ghostly flight platoon, scattering them. Winston drew a bead on one of them and ensnared him. Ray managed to do so likewise. The whooshing sounds of the throwers and the feral howls of the ghosts reverberated off the high walls of the cavern, creating an unearthly din.

"Trap open!" yelled Ray as he stamped on the trigger of the trap he had thrown down. With a final shriek of protest the ghost was sucked into the trap.

"Likewise!" shouted Winston as he trapped another ghost. "Looks like we're winning."

"Uh oh..." That was Ray.

Peter stole a quick glance at his friend while battling two ghosts simultaneously. "'Uh oh', Ray? What's wrong? Zombies coming out of the water or something?"

"No...GHOSTS coming out of the water. Look!"

Ray was right. The water at the boat's sides had started to bubble furiously and then a swarm of water spirits formed. It was a horrifying sight. Each spirit appeared to be comprised of a single mouth containing two gumfuls of rotten teeth, supporting by a grey-skinned, shrivelled neck. From the mouth belched steam. There looked to be a dozen of these beasties on each side. Suddenly one of them sprayed something at Ray. "Yeeowch!" exclaimed the redhead as the liquid made contact. "That stuff's boiling!"

"Alright, let's hit these suckers! Egon, Ray, you take care of the ghosts. Me and Winston will fight these critters off. Hit it!" Peter and Winston cut loose at the mouth-squirters and they dispersed. No sooner did this happen then another dozen sprang up in their place. With their efforts split, the Ghostbusters found themselves at risk of being swamped. A ghost managed to grab hold of Ray's proton pack, causing him to stumble backwards and nearly knock Peter overboard.

"Close your eyes, Ray!" commanded Egon as he grabbed a ghost trap and wielded it in Ray's direction. He stood on the trigger and the ghost was sucked in. He turned just in time to blast another ghost as it came within a few inches of hugging his face.

"I don't think we're gonna hold out much longer, guys," warned Winston. Both he and Peter had been caught by the searing water.

"I've got an idea," That was Peter. "Ray, take over here. Egon, on my command, fire into the water behind the boat at full streams. It's time we speeded things up a bit."

"I get it, Peter," said Egon. "Use the thrust of the streams like an outboard motor..."

"Fire!" Peter and Egon fired into the lake at full power and almost immediately the boat accelerated. They picked up speed quickly at the powerful protonic force pushed against the water, sending the boat forward.

"It's working!" shouted Egon. "But Peter, I must ask...where are we heading?"

"Um...I don't know, Egon...I – whoa!"

The other three turned to see the opposite shore heading towards them at a fairly decent rate of knots. "Brace yourselves...." THUMP! The four men were thrown forward, right out of the boat, and landed with a sharp thud on the small beach they had crashed into. They lay for a few seconds before they recovered.

"Thank you for choosing Venkman Cruises," Peter joked. "We apologise for the lack of meal service and the unfriendly company, but we hope you'll travel with us again sometime."

"Well, we know one thing, gentlemen," said Egon. "The inhabitants of this place do not take kindly to outsiders."

Winston cocked an eyebrow. "Well done, Egon. Good to see all those degrees are paying off." Peter wasn't the only Ghostbuster who could do sarcasm.

Ray was checking for their enemies. "Looks like the bandits have dispersed. But for a minute there I thought our number was up. Nice thinking, Peter."

Peter gave a bow. "T'was nothing. Ray, you and Winston OK? I got a little burnt by those mouth-critters. What about you guys?"

"He got my hand." Winston was holding said appendage; clearly he was in a little bit of pain. "But I'll' live." He got out a dressing from the pouch at his side – Egon had come up with the idea of carrying basic medical supplies on busts – and used it to bandage part of his left hand, and part of Peter's right. "Could have been a lot worse, though...."

"I'll say," said Ray. "What's the plan of action now?"

"I'm getting definite readings now..." Egon declared. "And I think we'll find out what they are behind that door." He pointed past a small set of stone steps towards a wooden door. The steps and door had been built into the side of the cavern, protected from the deadly waters by a small landing strip, and as they looked around, they could see similar portals all around the cavern. Obviously the lake was some sort of atrium, from which corridors led to all parts of this bizarre underwater world they had stumbled upon.

"Let's do it." They mounted the steps and headed for the door. Peter's hand moved toward the brass doorknob, but then he appeared to think differently of it – and kicked the door open instead.

"No need for theatrics, Peter," chided Egon.

Peter looked at his colleague unapologetically. "Yes there are. We need to send a message to these people that we mean business. Come on!"

Egon looked nonplussed for a second, then followed Peter through with Ray and Winston behind him.


	6. Chapter 6: Nightmare Museum

**Chapter 6: Nightmare Museum**

They were now in a wide corridor, made of dull grey stone with brass brackets carrying torches on the wall at regular intervals. Strange, esoteric lettering and markings adorned the corridor. The four began to make their way along it tentatively, listening for any odd sound.

"These markings look familiar," said Ray, keeping his voice low. "I recognise it from a book Josef showed me on the flight over here. It think it's the language used by the spirits that used to guard over the river."

"We could've used those spirits back there," said Winston. "Which way, Egon?"

"Straight ahead is the only way."

They proceeded forwards. The corridors turned ninety degrees to the right, and then carried on a little further. "The readings I'm getting are weird. Something is scrambling them," Egon spoke then.

Ray was undaunted. "Let's keep going."

A little while later the corridor ended in a flight of steps which appeared to lead upwards into an open area. The quartet mounted the steps with rising anticipation. The air became slightly warmer. Peter kept his thrower drawn as a precaution. Reaching the top, they emerged into a large room.

All of them gasped in shock. The sight that met their eyes was utterly bizarre. The room they had entered was a round, tall, large chamber. In the middle of the round room there was a stone table, and in the middle of it was a glowing crystal ball which emitted a purplish light. However, that wasn't the strangest thing about the room, not by a long chalk. The walls of the chamber consisted of a series of shelves. Upon each shelf, going around in a circle, stood luminous greenish-yellow cells which each contained a human being. Or, as Ray suddenly thought, the ghost of one. The sight was incredibly spooky. Taking a closer look they saw that each of the men (they all looked like men) inside were dressed like sailors from the eighteenth century. They hung there, apparently in some sort of suspended animation, trapped in their cells. A horrifying thought went through Ray's mind.

"This is unbelievable," said Ray. "What is this place?"

Peter answered him. "I don't wanna know what this kind of place is, Ray. Only that as soon as we've busted some more ghosts, I'm getting out of here."

Egon looked at the PKE meter. "They're ghosts, I can tell you that much. And they look human. Very human."

Ray and Winston went over to the bottommost shelf, which stood at ground level. The sailor trapped inside bore an expression that mixed blankness with a very definite hint of despair. As the two Ghostbusters stood before him, Ray saw his eyes slowly move from him to Winston. _He's very definitely conscious, _thought the technician to himself. The imprisoned sailor fixed his gaze on Ray again, and the expression in his eyes sent the youngest Ghostbuster a very precise message: _Get me out of here, PLEASE..._

"This is messed up, man," said Winston. "We've gotta find a way to free these guys."

"'_Messed up'? I was rather hoping I'd hear some compliments." _a deep, sonorous voice boomed.

As quick as lightning, all four Ghostbusters spun around to identify the source of the voice. They saw nothing...except a large puddle of water which had somehow formed without them noticing.

"_Ah, ha, ha, of course...allow me to reveal myself."_

A shower of sparks flew out of the water and congealed into a definite form. There was a flash of bright light and suddenly a humanoid being stood before them. It was about nine foot tall, broad shouldered, red-skinned with scales, and the face was long and angular with narrow eyes. Yellowish hair flowed gracefully from its head. The demon's (as Egon and Ray were certain that that was what it was) appearance was commanding and menacing.

"Who are you?" demanded Egon.

"I was about to ask you the same question. And seeing as you are infringing on my domain, I believe I have right of demand." He looked down at the Ghostbusters, menace flashing in his silver eyes. "Who are you?"

"We're pest eliminators. Someone upstairs complained about a very large and very mean rat prowling around down here. Naming no names. Did I mention ugly?" Peter folded his arms in defiance.

"You think you are funny, mortal?" The demon affixed Peter with a contemptuous glare, and then thrust out his hand. An energy blast shot out from his palm and struck Peter right in the stomach. Peter was knocked right off his feet and landed several feet away, skidding to a halt, winded by the blast. "Peter!" the other three cried out in unison, before realising their friend was not badly hurt.

"OK, guys, attack. Full streams!" As quick as lightning, the three drew their throwers and fired at the demon, dialing up the power to maximum. The entity however jumped clean out of the way, right into the air, right over their heads – similar to the way Gozer had done when they had attacked her – and landed on the other side of the round chamber. Before the trio could react, their opponent counter-attacked, shooting three thick tendrils out of his fingers. They wrapped around the three Ghostbusters and held them tight. Another tendril grabbed the recovering Peter and ensnared him with the others.

"What the – " spluttered Ray as the tentacles threatened to squeeze every last inch of breath from his body. "This stuff feels wet...and it looks like...water!"

"Hard water. Charged with intense spectral energy," Egon panted.

"This sucks...beaten with water!" yelled Peter.

"Don't say that word, Peter," chided Winston.

"What, water?"

"No, _beaten!"_

The demon walked towards them slowly. "Am I hurting you? Allow me to loosen your bonds slightly. I would not want to be barbaric now, would I?" he spoke sardonically, before chuckling. Their aqueous bonds eased a little, but still held them tightly. "Now...tell me who you are, and no levity."

"We're the Ghostbusters," said Ray. "We bust and imprison ghosts." The demon raised an eyebrow.

"What an interesting job." He rubbed his chin. "That explains those weapons of yours. And how did you get down here?"

The quartet looked at each other, as if to ask: _shall we tell him the truth? _Then, deciding that there was no use trying to bluff him, Egon said, "We were asked by the townspeople up above to trap Lorelei, the Siren. But the trail led us here. I expect you know who she is." Egon's tone was accusing.

"Oh, you would be right, very right indeed." replied their captor with a leering smile. "And now that I know who you are, allow me to introduce myself." He paused for dramatic effect. "My name is Gundrik. I am a water spirit, as you have no doubt deduced." Another slight pause. "Several centuries ago, I was one of the Lord of the River's most trusted deputies. He, I, and others ruled over the mighty Rhine, from Helvetia to the northern seas, guarding over the spirits, watching the mortals, and ensuring safe passage for all. I was given stewardship of a hundred-mile stretch of the river, fifty miles either way from where we are now. The Lord of the River trusted me, and I respected him. Until we reached a disagreement."

"We're with you so far. Go on, I can't wait to find out what happens." said Peter, earning a warning glance from Egon. _Watch it, Peter..._

The demon ignored Peter's sarcasm. "I had become angry. Angry at all the filthy mortals such as yourselves who were polluting and violating the clean waters of our river. I took my case straight to the Lord of the River himself. I put it to him that we needed to guard our river. I knew, and know still now, that we were superior to the mortal simpletons. I suggested raising an army of spirits, to conquer and land and subject the land dwellers to our rule. The Lord in his most _infinite_ wisdom did not agree, stressing the importance of peace and harmony. Pfah!" the demon spat. "He rejected my plans time after time. Eventually, I decided that if we were to take our rightful place in the ascendency, then the River Lord's pacificistic notions must not stand in the way. I raised some supporters of my own and attempted to overthrow him. In retrospect, I must admit that the attempt was hasty. The attack failed, and the Lord was not merciful. He punished me my imprisoning me here in this old fortress, and this has been my home ever since." Gundrik looked rueful.

"However, the spells I had placed on this part of the river remained undiscovered. I had concealed them well. I cannot escape, but I still maintain a great deal of control over this part of the river. I am connected to the river, and every day the connection grows stronger. And one day, I shall escape."

"I get it," said Winston. "So what's with all this?" He jerked his head in the direction of the trapped sailor-ghosts.

"Oh, these?" said Gundrik. "My collection?"

"Collection!?" exclaimed Ray.

"Yes, my friend. Whatever is lost in this part of the river, becomes mine. Including the souls of mortals who let the mighty waters defeat them." He paused. "They are now trapped here, existing as trophies, helpless symbols of the land-dwellers' inferiority, and maybe one day, future servitude to me."

"Stronger ghosts than you have tried to take us over," spat Egon. "And they've all failed."

"Maybe they were not as strong as you thought, then."

"I wouldn't bet on it, Gundrik," shot back Egon. "That crystal in the centre there. That must be what you're using to trap the souls."

"Correct. A Gornath spirit channeller, imbued with some of my own spells."

"I thought so. Some seriously dark magic there," Ray said to Egon.

Egon nodded before turning back to Gundrik. "So where does Lorelei fit in to all this?"

"Lorelei? Ah, yes, we nearly forgot about her, didn't we? Well, you see, Lorelei is a key to my defiance against the land dwellers. You see, I managed to use the male of the species' weakness against them."

"Go on," said Winston.

"Well, Lorelei was one of the first souls to find herself at my hospitality. I shall not deny that I myself was enraptured my her beauty...but not for long. You see, I had been trying to find a way to launch an attack on you mortals. I had been thinking for a long time when dear Lorelei practically fell right into my lap. Such good fortune! The plan struck me when she became scared, and, in an attempt to gain my favour, started to sing. Her voice was unlike anything I had heard before. I was quite captivated by it, I do admit. I realised that mortal men would have the same reaction. I made her tell the whole story about how she had came to be here. Such a _tragic_ story," he said with sarcasm.

"I think I know where this is going," said Winston. "You sent Lorelei to do your bidding. Took possession of her. Right?"

"Precisely. Well deduced, land creature." Gundrik paused briefly. "I took possession of her, manipulated her mind, so that her grief for her lost lover became her entire existence. She became a mindless drone for my use. And then I sent her up to the Rock, right above the most dangerous part of the river. I used my own power to boost hers, providing that extra something to make her irresistible to the passing sailors." Gundrik laughed. "How well it worked! I wreaked havoc on their ships, sent hundreds of them to their deaths. I collected their souls from the waters and imprisoned them here, and sent my water spirits to plunder the cargo from them, in the hope that maybe I would find something that could help me escape. So much satisfaction I received! Sadly, the landfolk have improved the construction of their ships, and there have been precious few souls for me to gather, but it still amuses me the way I can ruin their precious vessels wiithout even attacking directly. Besides, I still have my little collection here."

"You sick bastard," said Peter with anger. "You'll pay for what you've done."

"I doubt that somehow, you pathetic little man. Oh, by the way, would you like to see Lorelei? I can show you her," He produced a glassy sphere from inside his robe and tapped it. It began to glow slightly and emit a slight hum. It reminded the Ghostbusters a little of the floating spheres the Ghostmaster used. Then an image of Lorelei in all her beauty materialised inside it. She bore the same expression she had when they had encountered her, a look of deep serenity, although they now recognised that look as resulting partly from Gundrik's mental manipulation. "Doesn't she look beautiful? No wonder the sailors cannot resist her. Now, I am tired of talking. You will stay here as my guests until I decide what to do with you. Either I let you die, or let you live. You must know a lot about the supernatural...maybe you could be useful to me in my quest to escape this miserable fortress."

"We'll never help you," exclaimed Ray.

"We shall see, mortal peasant." Gundrik's eyes widened. "We shall see."


	7. Chapter 7: Flames and Water

**Chapter 7: Flames and Water**

"This _sucks._"

Peter Venkman stood with his head and hands against the wall of the stone prison cell that he and his fellow Ghostbusters had been imprisoned in. Their proton packs had been confiscated and they were defenceless. The cell was not particularly big, had no windows (they were underground after all) and a heavy metal door prevented their escape. Right now, the foursome was on their back foot, big time.

"A very accurate appraisal of the situation, Peter. But now we know what we're up against."

Winston folded his arms. "Yeah, and I don't like it. Those sailors...trapped like that."

Egon nodded. "I should've guessed we were up against something dangerous when we were first told about it. No-one goes from being an innocent young woman to being a dangerous demoness. Not without a higher entity involved." He raised his head to look at the others, then said, "It explains the strange readings, however. This isn't a case of standard direct possession. Gundrik has, effectively, retooled her mind to keep her in subjection...imprisoning her in her own grief, if you like. Very crafty, and very effective. He wouldn't need to exert too much power to keep her in his grasp."

"Well, it's too late to kick ourselves now." Peter turned back to his friends. "Egon, you got a plan for getting us out of here?"

"No, but I'm open to suggestions, Peter." The master physicist pushed his glasses up his nose again. "The good news is that Gundrik forgot to search us for additional equipment, so Ray and I still have our PKE meters."

"Well that's something." Peter turned to Ray. "You OK, Tex?"

Ray, who had been very quiet, replied in as much of an upbeat tone as he could muster. "Yeah, I'm okay, Peter. It's just that I really wanted to help Lorelei, and hearing about what that monster has done to her...well...it really gets me."

Peter laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I think it's getting all of us. But you know what to do, Ray. Channel your feelings into some good old-fashioned anger. You'll need it once we get out of here."

Ray smiled. "Peter, you're a great help. Egon, can you use the PKE meter to home in on our proton packs?"

"If I tune the meter to home in on the ghosts we captured earlier, inside our traps...we should be able to locate them. That's if Gundrik hasn't destroyed them."

"I don't think he would have," opined Ray. "He said he collects the items he plunders, in the hope that he finds something that'll help him. He's probably thrown them in with the rest."

Peter raised a finger in the air. "Guys, aren't we forgetting something? Like, the fact that we're trapped in here?"

"I think Winston's working on it, Peter," replied Egon. He turned towards Winston, who was surveying the lock on the cell door very intently. After a few seconds he addressed the others.

"I think I can open it. But it's gonna take longer than normal." He withdrew a rusty old nail file from his pocket and poked it into the keyhole. Soon he was working at picking the heavy lock.

"Alright, guys," Ray said to the others. "What's the plan?"

Egon answered swiftly. "Try and find our proton packs. Then we've got to free the ghosts. Simple as that."

"And we'll take down Gundrik along the way." said Peter with determination.

Ten minutes later, Winston emitted a note of triumph. "Well, guys, it was difficult, but we might just be back in business." He held the nail file to show the Ghostbusters that it had bent slightly. "There's more where that came from," the eldest Ghostbuster said.

"I'll agree we're back in business once we've got some firepower handy," said Peter. "Lead the way, Dr. Spengler." he invited Egon.

****

Egon had memorised the route from the prison chamber to the jailcell, but they wouldn't be following that route. Instead, they headed in the opposite direction to the one they had arrived at the cell from, heading a little further into the depths of the enlarged fortress. They walked down one corridor and then turned right. The corridors seemed to follow the same design motif as the ones earlier – slate-grey, decorated with bizarre letters forming sentences that none of them could understand. Deep red flame danced from brass metal brackets on the walls, the light gave a suitably alien effect.

None of the Ghostbusters saw the flame turn slightly in their direction, as if it were watching them.

"I wonder what purpose this fortress would've served?" pondered Winston.

"Maybe there was some sort of war back in the old days among the river people," suggested Ray. "I remember Josef telling me something about a war. It'll be great looking all this stuff up when we get home."

They kept walking, and then they progress was cut short. The wall ended in a dead end. Egon waved his PKE meter from side to side. "Hmmm, that's strange. The meter indicates a reading dead ahead of us."

"Looks like we'll have to find another way there," said Ray. Either side of them were two doors leading to two rooms. Ray very slowly opened one door, before motioning to the other three that it was safe to enter.

The room was empty. It figured that since Gundrik was the only real occupant of the fortress, that most of the rooms inside would be empty. After a minute's inspection, Winston knelt down to look at a grating in the wall. "Egon, point the meter down here," he instructed. Egon followed suit.

"The readings are strong," said Egon. "Looks like we'll be going on all fours."

"Well, let's get on with it." implored Ray, who was obviously in a hurry to get on with the mission. Winston pulled at the grating and luckily, it came open. He got down and crawled into the narrow tunnel, followed by Egon, Ray and Peter.

* * *

Fifty metres away, the water demon known as Gundrik sat in his chambers, deep in thought. The four land creatures were an intrepid quartet, he knew. He had even thought to himself briefly that he may have given the land people too little credit, until he remembered how was able him to trap him with relatively little difficulty. Now his ruminations had turned towards practical purposes. How would be use this latest hand that the fates of the waters had dealt him? He wouldn't be able to take possession of them as he had done Lorelei, by filling their souls with the same crushing, melancholy grief that now held the maidenly spirit in subjection, but he could take advantage of the corruptability of their species. He could promise them riches, material possessions, or even knowledge, perhaps. He had plundered numerous valuables from the ships he had been responsible for bringing to grief, in part motivated by his search for weapons to use against his imprisonment, in part to gain a further knowledge of the land people and their culture that could come in useful in the future.

His train of thought was derailed then by a shrill whistling from one of the glass spheres which lay on a shelf above him. He rose and picked up the sphere, the contents of which had changed from a shifting pink mist to a deep red colour - the same colour as the sentient flame torches.

"What is it?" he inquired of the supposedly inanimate object.

The fiery red cloudiness dissipated to reveal a picture, a picture that Gundrik did not like. The Ghostbusters, escaped from their cell, prowling through the fortress.

"This will not stand." spoke the demon. "It looks like I'll have to dispose of them after all...."

* * *

"Yuucch. I've a good mind to complain to the hotel management," complained Venkman. It was cold and damp inside the tight crawlspace. The stone was freezing under their hands. Egon, who was slightly claustrophobic, gritted his teeth and led them as fast as he could. "You sure we aren't heading for another dead end, Egon?"

"The meter's never wrong," replied Egon.

"I'll remember you said that."

It all seemed to be going right for the Ghostbusters as they soon saw light filtering through the gaps in another grating. Approaching the end, Winston shoved hard at it and it came loose. One by one they climbed out and stood once more in their feet.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ray. They were in a large chamber, shaped like a normal room but much, much larger. Moss and lichen covered much of the purple-coloured stone walls. It appeared as if they had come across some sort of giant storage space. Boxes, crates and barrels were piled up against the walls. Huges pieces of smashed timber lay in a large heap in one corner, and in another corner was what looked like the payload from a munitions barge, as three missiles – each marked with a swastika - were stacked neatly next to each other, surrounded by several boxes of hand grenades. All sorts of other curios were scattered about – some old rigging, an old-fashioned portable generator, a trio of duelling swords, and a cracked stone statue depicting no-one any of the guys recognised. "This must be all the stuff Gundrik's plundered from the barges. Remember he said that he was looking for something to help him escape."

"Well he hasn't been successful. It looks like they've been dumped here and forgotten about." Egon mused.

"Or maybe he's planning a yard sale," quipped Peter.

"Found them!" called Winston's voice from the opposite end of the chamber. The guys looked to see him holding up two proton packs in each hand.

"Well, kids, looks like we're back in business." said Peter as they donned their pack. "Now to take down Big Red so hard he bounces."

"Wait, Peter," interjected Egon. "I'm getting some readings approaching our position..."

Suddenly the light dimmed. Peter, Ray and Winston raised their throwers in anticipation. Then they heard a weird squelching noise, like water being forced through a narrow gap.

"Look!" shouted Ray, pointing. Each of the four felt a stab of fear strike through them. Water was bubbling rapidly through the cracks between the floor tiles, forming a puddle which was not only spreading out but rising in height as well. Smoke was rising from the phantom water. The PKE meter beeped with a shrill, insistent tone.

"Gundrik must know we're here," said Egon. "This is looking like – " Egon was interrupted by a gargling growl from the newly-forming water spirit. Seconds later it sprang up to its full size, boxing the Ghostbusters in to the corner. It was a heaving, hulking mass with a vaguely defined mouth and eyes. It let out another growl.

The guys raised their throwers. "Bathtime just isn't gonna seem the same again," Peter cracked.. "OK, let 'em have it." The four fired simultaneously. The streams passed straight through the monster. "What the - ?" spat Peter as the seething mass began to advance slowly on the quartet.

"It's not ectoplasmic," yelled Ray, fear in his voice. "It's water, being manipulated by Gundrik. If it gets us, we're history!"

"Go to full streams," Egon commanded. "Maybe we can try and evaporate it." They cranked up the power to maximum and fired again. The powerful ion streams smashed straight through but nothing happened.

"We're just making him angrier!" warned Winston. He looked around. Behind them were some crates piled up. Two of the guys could climb up a bit, but the monster would surely rise further and trap them. Egon had spotted something else – the old portable generator. Now he had a plan.

"I've got an idea, guys," said the physicist. "Fire again, high power, wide dispersion. Slow him down a bit and buy me some time. Go!" The other three fired, throwers set to the requisite settings. The advancing water-beast's progress was slowed, but they'd only have around a minute before it reached them.

"What's your plan, Egon?" shouted Ray over the cacophony, but Egon didn't answer. He had already ripped off his proton pack and flipped open the cover on the portable generator open. Now he was wiring his pack to the generator. The pressure of the situation served to motivate rather than distract the physicist and he worked quickly. Soon he had made a crude connection between the two appliances. "Here goes...I just hope this old thing still some life in it." He switched on the pack and the makeshift connection sparked and crackled. Egon turned to see the monster barely five feet away and closing fast.

"Egon," Peter yelled. "If you're gonna change the laws of physics, do it now! I haven't got a date yet!" Egon didn't stop to appreciate Peter's gallows humour. He grabbed the leads of the generator, strode forward, and jabbed them straight into the centre of the heaving mass of water. The whole entity was enveloped in crackling, sparkling power and let out an anguished roar. Five seconds later, a hissing volley of steam rose from the entity and it began to disperse.

"It's working!" shouted Egon triumphantly. The water-beast shrank and shrank until eventually, it disappeared back into the cracks in the floor.

Ray wiped the sweat from his brow. "Great job, Egon. Phew, I thought we were for it that time."

"Not the first time you've said that today, Ray." said Winston.

"And it had better be the last time." gasped Peter, who was leaning against the stack of crates, looking a little shaken.

Winston walked to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You OK, m'man?"

Peter stood up again. "Yeah, it's nothing. Nothing that being alive can't fix." Winston then remembered Peter's fear of drowning. He must have been scared. "Let's get on with it."


	8. Chapter 8: The Venkman Way

**Chapter 8: The Venkman Way**

Now re-armed, the four Ghostbusters hurried with purpose in the direction of the prison chamber, following the signals from the ever-trusty PKE meter. They crossed a small bridge leading across a rushing underground stream, passed several stone doors, and negotiated a tunnel, before finding a stairway which led directly into the large, imposing, cylindrical hall, with its ghastly ectoplasmic prisoners held firmly inside their cells. There was no sign of Gundrik anywhere, but the Ghostbusters kept their throwers drawn and ready to fire at a split-second's notice. The purple glowing Gornath crystal held sway in the centre of the room, and the four men could feel its heat and a palpable feeling of energy emanating from it. Egon withdrew his PKE meter and began to survey it. Ray leaned over and studied the screen as wavy lines flickered and looped over it.

"Hmmm....this may be tricky," said Egon, more to himself than to anyone else.

"What does he mean, 'tricky', Ray?" asked Peter.

"Well, you see, the energy used by Gornath crystals is similar to that used in our packs," explained Ray. "That's partly what led us to consider using concentrated proton energy to catch ghosts in the first place. Which means that if we shoot it open with our throwers, it might cause an effect similar to crossing the streams. Or worse, we could end up linking ourselves to it."

Winston placed his hands on his hips. "So what do we do?"

Egon turned to the others. "I think that a non-ionizing source of energy would do the trick nicely."

"You mean like explosives?" suggested Winston.

Peter held up a finger. "Explosives? Well, there's plenty of explosives where we just came from. So what say we blow this baby up the old-fashioned way?"

"It's a plan, Peter," said Egon. "I only hope we don't end up bringing the whole fortress down on top of us."

Peter gave the blond man a disapproving look. "No time to be a killjoy, Spengs. We've gotta – " He cut off, and the other three knew exactly why.

A rushing, bubbling sound was issuing from the staircase they had just come from. As it got louder, the sound seemed to get angrier and more ominous, until –

"Gundrik!" shouted Ray, and a stab of anger as well as urgency could be heard through his voice. "Heat 'em up!" he shouted to the others, and they did so, in unison, poised for combat....

A furious torrent of water burst from the staircase and lanced into the air. Just a second before it would have hit the floor about ten feet in front of the quartet of mortals, it shaped almost instantaneously into the hulking crimson form of Gundrik, who landed gracefully on his feet.

"So, you escaped from my death trap," he spoke, in the tones of someone commenting on the weather. "That shows you are a resourceful group. And now you're planning to destroy my precious Gornath crystal, aren't you, Ghostbusters?"

"Well, we're kind of past the planning stage, Gundy." Peter wisecracked, clearly unperturbed by the fact that the last time he had backchatted the demon, he had got a bolt of charged ectoplasm to the chest for his trouble. "And now we're gonna blow it up good. So I'd stay around if you like fireworks."

"Is sarcasm not considered the lowest form of wit in your world?" asked Gundrik. "Never mind. Now we battle, and I will win." He said the last three words as surely as if he were talking about the morning sun rising.

"Hit him now!" On Egon's command, the foursome fired at Gundrik, who leapt out of the way and transformed as the yellow-and-blue proton streams lashed uselessly at thin air. The group could only watch as Gundrik's spiralling shape shifted into a giant fist – and then zoomed down towards them....

"SCATTER!" Winston's shout echoed through the chamber as all four of them jumped haphazardly sideways, before the fist slammed down, sending a shockwave through the floor. Egon rolled over and fired, but his stream passed harmlessly though the water. Cursing, Egon stole a quick look at his PKE meter.

"Put that away, Egon. That ain't gonna help us now!" shot Winston.

"If I can determine which frequency to set the streams to, we may be able to contain him in his elemental form," answered Egon through gritted teeth. "If he doesn't finish us off first!"

Gundrik was now transforming into a new guise, his watery shape now spinning rapidly. He was turning into a sort of ghostly tornado. Before the Ghostbusters had a chance to regroup, the Gundrik-tornado soared down and picked the four men off the ground, and then started to spin them round.

"Someone – do – something! I hate – unsafe - fairground rides!" yelled Venkman. "YEOWCH!" he exclaimed as his own thrower hit him in the face, having been wrenched from his hands.

"WHOA!" they all shouted in unison as the spinning got faster and faster, and Gundrik's vindictive laughter rang in their ears over the manic swishing of the water tornado. Then all of a sudden, the world fell apart and they fell to land with a thud on the stone ground. Their pain was overcome, however, by their determination not to give up. They fired at the still circling tornado. The streams bent around the spiralling form before curving off at a tangent and shooting off uselessly into the ceiling a hundred or so feet above.

"We need more time," implored Ray, whose lip was bleeding from where he had bitten down on it on impact.

"Doesn't look like we're gonna get it," said Winston. Gundrik had changed form and was now standing on a ledge about thirty feet above them.

"Accept your limitations....you cannot hope to defeat me directly!" barked the powerful demon down at them. "For your persistence, I offer you one last chance to surrender, and assist me instead. Refuse and you will most certainly die, and it will _not_ be a quick death."

"How's it going, Egon? Have you found the frequency yet?" asked Winston of the physicist.

"Afraid not...the readings are only useful when he's in elemental form."

Gundrik leered down at them. "Yes, discuss amongst yourselves, for all the good it will do you."

Peter was thinking. _Outmatched....needed reinforcements_....He looked towards the main staircase entrance, almost as if he expected Janine and Slimer to come barrelling through, as the cavalry. Then he was struck by an idea. He removed the spare PKE meter from the mini-satchel on his belt.

"Peter, I don't think an extra PKE meter will help us here," Ray spoke.

"Hang on Ray. Dr. V has technical knowledge too, y'know, in case you forgot." Peter twisted the dial on the meter until it reached maximum sensivity. He then ripped off the back cover, felt around for a short while, then found a cable and pulled hard, ripping it out.

"What's Peter doing?" muttered Winston, ever mindful of the demon watching them.

Egon re-adjusted his glasses and said, laconically, "At a guess, I'd say he just ripped out the isotope stabiliser cable."

"Which would turn the meter into a powerful explosive. And with all the spectral energy about, there's gonna be a good-sized bang."

"Of course!" said Egon. "Peter's going through with the plan...Gundrik or no!"

"_You have only a few seconds left!_" Gundrik boomed. "Servitude or death, the choice is yours and yours alone!"

"I really hope I've got this right, or Gundy-baby'll be picking bits of our skulls out of the stonework for a year," said Peter. He switched the destabilised meter on, and angry sparks hissed from it. "All right, Gundrik!" he shouted up at his and his friends' enemy. "Here's the fireworks I promised you!" He rushed to the dais where the crystal was and placed it on the edge. "Now, take cover!" The four men ran ten feet before hurling themselves to the floor and placing their hands over their ears -

BOOM.

The explosion tore apart the stone dais in a searing red flash. A second later there was an eye-burning flash of violet light and a cascade of glittering energy soaring high into the air. The Ghostbusters stayed prone as bits of stone and crystal rained down on them. Then they turned, proton rifles at the ready, to see that the crystal had been completely destroyed and -

WHOOSH! The translucent cells securing the imprisoned sailors disappeared. Gundrik screamed and tumbled from his position of superiority to the ground as all of a sudden, his exhibits found themselves free. The four Ghostbusters were forced to drop back as about a hundred ghosts swooped down to the ground, forming a circle. Gundrik found himself in the centre, looking disbelievingly around, like a man who had found himself cornered by a pack of unruly wild animals.

"Good work, Peter. Crude, but effective." congratulated Egon.

"I didn't do anything you wouldn't do, big guy," said Peter, winking.

"Heads up, guys! Look!" alerted Winston.

"No! Get back! You cannot win against me!"

"_Wir werden uns rachen_!" Suddenly, the foremost row of ghosts jumped forward, follwing half a second later by the second. Gundrik felt himself pulled under the surge of rampaging, vengeful spirits. There was a muffled yell and then all hell broke loose. Gundrik was fighting against them all, swatting, punching and flailing at each ghost, but there were too many of them.

"I think he's about to transform. This could be our chance."

"I'm ready, Ray. Switch on again," said Egon, who had his thrower in one hand, meter in the other. The others heated up, ready to intervene. With a roar, Gundrik transformed, changing into his elemental form, turning grey and transparent, increasing his height. He screamed in rage and began to fire volleys of searing steam at his assailants. One was hit and went down, crying in pain. Gundrik shot at everyone who came near.

"OWCH!" cried Ray as one gout of boiling vapour nearly struck him. He sidestepped it, but it just grazed his arm.

"This is it guys, said Egon, stowing his meter. "Set throwers to 150,000 megaHertz, wide angle, high power," he ordered. "Ready, aim, FIRE!"

The foursome blasted straight at the hulking aqueous form of Gundrik and the streams connected. The demon gave a hoarse bellow of horror and rage as he was enscared in a yellow-blue maelstrom of protons.

"Curse you, Ghostbusters....you cannot imprison me! I will have my revenge on you people!"

"I got the trap!" Peter shouted, as he dexterously grabbed the trap from his pack and threw it out under Gundrik. The sailor ghosts stepped back obligingly, staring with awe as their saviours. "Smile, you son of a bitch!" Venkman stepped on the footpedal and the trap snapped open, unleashing a blinding white vortex upwards. Gundrik raged and fought, but it was no use as he was sucked into the trap. The striped yellow and black doors slammed shut, the trap's external mechanics sparked for a few seconds, then it was over.

Peter walked over and picked up the smoking trap by its cable. "Game, set and match," he said with satisfaction, giving the thumbs-up to the others, before wrinkling his nose. "Yuck, the nastier they are, the worse they smell."

It was then that Peter, together with the others, became aware of the multitude of human ghosts looking curiously at them. Some were chatting furiously amongst themselves. Then one of them, a tall ghost with auburn hair a similar shade to Ray's, stepped forward. "_Wir danken Ihnen herzlich fuer Ihre Hilfe_," he said in German. "_Jetzt dass Gundrik gefangen worden ist, koennen wir endlich..._" He stopped as he noticed that none of the four could understood what he was saying.

"I think he's thanking us," said Egon.

"You are English?" asked the sailor.

Ray took a step forward. "Not quite. We're from the United States. A new country. I guess you've got a lot to catch up on."

"Yes, yes, so it would appear." spoke the ghost softly. "But on behalf of all of us, I thank you."

"_Vielen Dank_!" went up the cheer.

Then, the sailors were departing, some fading out instantly, some sweeping out through the doors, walls, and ceiling, grateful to finally leave the place in which they had been trapped for so long. The Ghostbusters watched them in silence, their hearts filling with pride at their work, knowing that they had done an unfathomably good deed. It was moments like this that made Ghostbusting so worthwhile.

Ray suddenly remembered Lorelei - the ghost that had brought them here in the first place. He addressed the seafaring spirit before him. "Listen, do you know a sailor named Karl? Lorelei - she's the siren who we initially came here to capture - is looking for him. I - we - thought we might be able to help her instead of busting her."

At Ray's words, the sailor's eyes misted over and all of a sudden he looked forlorn. His head drooped and he took a deep breath. "I...." he breathed, "...am he, my friends. You have found him. Without Lorelei, I cannot rest." Then he appeared to perk up again, and his eyes almost lit up with sudden hope and longing. "Is she here?"

"She's up above," replied Winston. "We can lead you to her. Can't we guys?"

"There shouldn't be any problem," Egon said. "Karl, I think we'll be able to rearrange a reunion between you and Lorelei. With you present, she should reappear any time."

"You can do that?" gasped Karl, who looked like all his Christmasses had come together. "You can take me to Lorelei?"

"No problem, pal," said Peter softly. "But first, we gotta get outta here...."

* * *

With Gundrik contained, crossing the lake to reach the tunnel to the outside world was much easier, as he alone had control over the various horrors that stirred within its treacherous depths. As they breezed across the unnaturally still waters, Karl had been telling them about his story. It had not been easy listening for the Ghostbusters.

"It was no use. The current at that part of the river is often is perilous, and I could not save myself," he had said. "My last thoughts were of Lorelei, and my parents, and of the beautiful Rhineland I would never see again...and then...everything turned white. I felt like someone had grabbed me and was pulling me, but that couldn't have been, surely? Then I woke up again, and I couldn't feel myself. It felt like I was weightless, and I couldn't move. I didn't even know I was a ghost, although somehow I knew I was dead. I just...knew it. I thought to myself....was this Hell?" The sailor shuddered at the recollection of his death and imprisonment.

"It sounds like it might as well have been, if such a place exists," said Egon. "Gundrik knew some very powerful magic, and you were unlucky enough to feel its effects."

"Unlucky, yes," echoed Karl in weary tones. "But how is it that you are involved in all this?"

Ray answered him. "We're the Ghostbusters. Our job is to contain ghosts that cause trouble and imprison them. The town called us here to trap Lorelei, as they believed she was distracting sailors and causing them to crash on the rocks. Turns out that was Gundrik's whole plan, to harvest souls for his collection. Sort of like a hobby to entertain himself as he plotted his escape." Ray gasped suddenly, as he realised that Karl might not know what had happened to Lorelei.

"It is well, I am aware of what happened, Gundrik made sure of that."

There was silence for a while in the boat. As Winston regarded their spectral friend, it occurred to him that Karl bore a very distinct resemblance to Ray. They had the same hair and eye colour, and the facial features were somewhat similar, although Karl's face was less round than Ray's, and he was a fair bit slimmer. Then he remembered what had happened during their encounter with Lorelei, and how Lorelei had appeared to break out of her trance briefly upon seeing Ray. _Hmmm, _the black man thought._ Could it be..._

They reached the opposite shore after a few minutes and disembarked onto the sandy shore. Soon they were making their way through the dark tunnel. It was harder going walking up than walking down, but they were up to it. They arrived at the hole they had blasted through the cliff, and were rewarded by the feeling of the night wind caressing their faces. It felt refreshing and satisying, especially as they had briefly suspected down below during their fight with Gundrik that they might noticti have ever felt it again. Their happy reverie was broken by the intrusion of a powerful searchlight on their position. About twenty feet or so out from the rocks was a large motorboat, and the guys could make out three figures on it. One they recognised as the tall, platinum-blonde topped figure of Josef Brunstein. Ray and Peter waved at him. They saw Josef say something to the boat captain, and then the boat fired up its engine and moved in close.

"We thought you were lost!" said Josef by way of greeting.

"Good evening to you too, Josef," replied Peter sardonically. "We've been checking out the tourist trail, and we kinda tangled with the resident lunatic. We've got a lot to tell you." Josef then caught sight of Karl, and he instinctively took a step back.

"A ghost...!?"

"Don't worry, Karl," said Ray quickly. "This here is Karl..." he paused for dramatic effect, "...Lorelei's lost lover."

Josef's eyes bulged. "_Es freut mich, Ihnen zu treffen_," he said, robotically.


End file.
